Are firmwares interchangeable between different regions/hardware versions? - ASUS ZenFone 6 (2019) Questions & Answers

Hi all!
I have decided to buy the ZenFone 6 and found out that it is completely out of stock here in Moscow, Russia, and nobody knows the delivery date. Hopefully the eBay and other platforms come to the rescue.
I also found out that there exist at least 3 hardware versions of the phone: "A", "B" and "C". Each version supports different LTE bands.
Are all firmwares interchangeable between these three hardware versions or not? Will I be able to flash the version I pick from the asus.com website and root any hardware version of the phone?
I have doubts because some firmware versions (go to https://www.asus.com/Phone/ZenFone-6-ZS630KL/HelpDesk_BIOS and press "Show all") have comments like : "for WW/IN/EU/RU/JP only*"; "WW/EU/RU/JP only* exclude IN" or "IN/WW/TW only* exclude RU/EU" and the asterisk points nowhere.
I don't want to get the phone and find out that it does not support VoLTE just because I cannot flash the proper firmware or even worse - I can't root my device.
Thank you!

Related

[Q] [HELP]Lack of support for certain Baseband

Dear,
times because many users from different countries or continents themselves are devoid of using a Cyanogenmod? Because often the warriors who are programming the current versions of Android on devices forgotten by companies like Samsung, who think only update the TOP line and when others leave throw them aside?
I am suffering with the same damn TOUCHWIZ and can not use a CM11 4.4.4 for the simple reason that the firmware for my device is not suitable for ROM made ​​for his model because I have a FW MTZ BRAZIL and it only runs second programmers on a FW KPN Netherlands, and I have tested and can not make connection in my firmware at least everything works but the audio is with many problems, both the link as the call. Is it so difficult to test this FW Cyanogenmod and solve these problems instead of insisting on getting another firmware works?
I wanted to be using a CM11 and using almost 100% of what my device has to offer.
I wonder if it's so hard so find a bug of call tone that leaves his voice as if you had swallowed gas Helio, and get the speed of the music player that is is in 1.5x? Or is it easier to provide something that works only on who's programming the ROM device and eager users of that device they turn?

What do manufacterers need to enable VOLTE on devices

Not having VOLTE is quiet an annoyance when you have been using it previously on other handsets.
what are the specifics regarding enabling volte by both carieer and manufacterer?
what information do they need to enable the service?
Manufacturers have to include the proper configuration for VoLTE/VoWifi in their devices, e.g. ISM, Gateways, etc.
VoLTE/VoWifi has to be configured a little different than the usual VoIP like e.g. SIP.
The GSM Association has a Device Settings Database (where telco's can provide the needed information for handset manufacturers/OEMs), into slides can be found here: www gsma com/futurenetworks/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Device_Settings_Database.pdf (insert dots after www and before com)
Sadly, I guess the database is for registered vendors/telcos only..
RipperFox said:
Manufacturers have to include the proper configuration for VoLTE/VoWifi in their devices, e.g. ISM, Gateways, etc.
VoLTE/VoWifi has to be configured a little different than the usual VoIP like e.g. SIP.
The GSM Association has a Device Settings Database (where telco's can provide the needed information for handset manufacturers/OEMs), into slides can be found here: www gsma com/futurenetworks/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Device_Settings_Database.pdf (insert dots after www and before com)
Sadly, I guess the database is for registered vendors/telcos only..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is it the responsibility of the MNO to liaison with the phone manufacturer to provide the VOLTE / VOWIFI settings? (or atleast make available) and thus the manufacturer would update the settings via an update?
is it possible to get the settings manually via a device that already has volte?
what im trying to figure out is this
i have two phones. a huawei p20 and a oneplus 6
they both support the same bands so no issues there
volte works on my p20 and not my oneplus 6 - this is confusing.
my operator clearly favors huawei (as they sell it in store) so they provide the required information (or do they add configuration to the network) to get the volte working
my p20 was not purchased via my telco so there is no telco based firmware required to get it working.
if possible can we pull the information required from the phone / telco and make available for others to enable VOLTE?
From what I think I read: MNOs: At least the three big players here in Germany whitelisted tested handsets until about beginning of 2017 - then I guess they decided they tested their networks enough and now you can read on their pages that it's (solely?) the OEMs part of work to include the correct config tu support VoLTE/Wifi in their Firmware (e.g. Android release).
In principle, the MNOs should send the needed details how to configure for VoLTE/VoWifi to GSMAs database, where the phone manufacturers could access it to implement in their phones - so there's no contact between MNO and phone OEM necessary at all.
Of course, if a MNO sells a branded phone, they make sure that phone had that specific MNOs VoLTW/VoWifi settings embeded (and maybe ONLY for that MNO ) .
Maybe if we find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 based phone we'd be able to copy the configs for other providers. Seems the OP6 currently (5.1.8) has these configs included:
OnePlus6:/data/vendor/radio/modem_config/mcfg_sw # cat mbn_sw.txt
cat mbn_sw.txt
mcfg_sw/generic/apac/airtel/volte/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/apac/idea/commerci/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/apac/reliance/commerci/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/apac/vodafone/volte/india/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/china/cmcc/commerci/volte_op/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/china/cmcc/lab/conf_vol/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/china/cmcc/lab/nsiot_vo/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/china/cmcc/lab/tgl_comb/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/china/ct/commerci/hvolte_o/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/china/ct/lab/cta/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/china/ct/lab/volte_co/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/china/cu/commerci/volte/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/eu/ee/commerci/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/eu/elisa/commerci/fi/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/eu/h3g/commerci/denmark/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/eu/h3g/commerci/uk/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/eu/telefoni/commerci/uk/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/eu/telia/commerci/norway/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/eu/telia/commerci/sweden/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/na/att/volte/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/na/tmo/commerci/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/oem/lab/volte_pt/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/oem/lab/volte_te/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/oem/oversea/commerci/mtnl_bsn/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/oem/oversea/commerci/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/sea/chunghwa/commerci/tw/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/sea/fareasto/commerci/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/sea/tm/commerci/mcfg_sw.mbn
mcfg_sw/generic/sea/ytl/commerci/mcfg_sw.mbn
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The files seem to have a digital signature, so it's unlikely that we'd be able to edit them, even if we would just know the correct parameters. Also, not everything is for VoLTE/Wifi.
RipperFox said:
From what I think I read: MNOs: At least the three big players here in Germany whitelisted tested handsets until about beginning of 2017 - then I guess they decided they tested their networks enough and now you can read on their pages that it's (solely?) the OEMs part of work to include the correct config tu support VoLTE/Wifi in their Firmware (e.g. Android release).
In principle, the MNOs should send the needed details how to configure for VoLTE/VoWifi to GSMAs database, where the phone manufacturers could access it to implement in their phones - so there's no contact between MNO and phone OEM necessary at all.
Of course, if a MNO sells a branded phone, they make sure that phone had that specific MNOs VoLTW/VoWifi settings embeded (and maybe ONLY for that MNO ) .
Maybe if we find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 based phone we'd be able to copy the configs for other providers. Seems the OP6 currently (5.1.8) has these configs included:
The files seem to have a digital signature, so it's unlikely that we'd be able to edit them, even if we would just know the correct parameters. Also, not everything is for VoLTE/Wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mcfg_sw/generic/eu/h3g/commerci/uk/mcfg_sw.mbn
It seems my network three uk is included, however VOLTE doesn't work for me.
See my last sentence in my last post
Those modem configs seem to include seperate config files for selecting the correct bands, etc.
I'd guess that mostly the directory entries with "volte" contain VoLTE settings
virtyx said:
is it the responsibility of the MNO to liaison with the phone manufacturer to provide the VOLTE / VOWIFI settings? (or atleast make available) and thus the manufacturer would update the settings via an update?
is it possible to get the settings manually via a device that already has volte?
what im trying to figure out is this
i have two phones. a huawei p20 and a oneplus 6
they both support the same bands so no issues there
volte works on my p20 and not my oneplus 6 - this is confusing.
my operator clearly favors huawei (as they sell it in store) so they provide the required information (or do they add configuration to the network) to get the volte working
my p20 was not purchased via my telco so there is no telco based firmware required to get it working.
if possible can we pull the information required from the phone / telco and make available for others to enable VOLTE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, can you upload your p20 mbn files?
I need specifcally bouygues .
If you guys need, I have pixel 3(snapdragon 845 as well) and i can upload all my mbn files for reference?

Xperia Firmware difference question

Hi guys,
After some answers for the following.
In Xperifirm, What does the CDA Numbers represent? I.E Australian firmware 1308-6997 vs Ireland 1309-2380.
Also what does the last numbers represent on the firmware. ie. 47.1.A.16.20 R3C vs R4B etc
tried googling it and didn't get any definitive answers.
If its been answered already, i apologize in advance!!
Cheers
Anyone? No one knows?
The CDA numbers are batch specific builds that are made up for different service providers. Each service provider will want certain applications included, some of them made system, that are not stock. Even the 'customised' builds are differtrent, some include fingerprint sensor, some allow voice recording, some allow 2g only depending on the region they are to be deployed.
Picking a higher number won't get you more bells and whistles.
The suffix on the end of the firmware relates to Release Candidate (RC) or Release Batch, this is effectively the build number and the higher the number the later and possibly more complete the build.
Ahh mate thanks for that!
trying to see what firmware is similar to AU firmware in the G8142 category, so i can have VoLTE and VoWIFI. Looks like I'll just have to flash a G8142 with OEM.SIN file from the AU firmware.

Verizon SM-T387V to T-Mobile SM-T387T (carrier cahnges)

Hello all,
I always root my phones and tablets, unlock bootloaders and install custom roms; but only doing with my ex carrier big red vzw; I finally left and switch over t-mobile.
I was able to unbranded my vzw HTC 10 and now it’s fully unlocked. My question now is for my Samsung tablets:
I was reading and learning about Samsung CSC codes on droidnews site; and it says this:
https://www.**********.com/how-to-change-csc-in-samsung-galaxy-phones/
What’s CSC on Samsung?
CSC is the abbreviated form of “Consumer Software Customization” or “Country Specific Code “. CSC is an essential component of Samsung firmware binaries and it contains customized settings, system configurations, localizations and geo-specific things such as the system language, APN settings, and carrier-branding.
That’s is say, Samsung may release the same model of a phone in a country or region with different CSCs. For example, if you live in the United States and own a Samsung Galaxy phone, the CSC or product code of your device may be one of the following depending on the fact whether it is unlocked, open or carrier branded.
Here is my question:
Is it possible to flash the full t-mobile software (all4 files) and change my vzw tablet to t-mobile?
Like it says above “Samsung may release the same model of a phone in a country or region with different CSCs.”
Original Verizon model SM-T387V
Original T-Mobile model SM-T387T
Thanks

CellBroadcast and Emergency Warnings on Android - is it a mess?

Hey,
Germany is implementing EU-Alert (ETSI TS 102 900 [1]) at the moment and referring to the local News, it is a huge mess [2].
But let's start at the beginning.
CellBroadcast is a core component of each mobile network generation (2G,3G,4G,5G,...) and part of the 3GPP spec. CellBroadcast basically allows the network to send a simple SMS to all mobile phones connected to a specific base station. Thes SMS-CB are sent with a Message Identifier (aka Channel, aka Topic) which gives them a special purpose by convention. e.g. ID / Channel 50 is often used for area related information [3], while channel 207 might broadcast local weather information. Since not all Channels are standardized, there is also the option to broadcast an Index that lists all channels with a description. And since users probably don't want any message broadcasted, users have to subscribe to these channels.
Since decades now, CellBroadcast is also used for public Emergency Warnings. This means that, by definition of a country, a specific channel is used to broadcast Emergency Warnings. Long time ago, in many countries it looks like Channel 919 was used for this purpose. For this to work properly, mobile phones were instructed to subscribe to channel 919 by default and also use a special ringtone (even if muted) to alert such a message.
Later - over 12 years ago - additional channels from 4370-4399 were standardized in ETSI TS 123 041 [4] for public warning systems like CMAS, EU-Alert, KPAS. All using the same channels which is beneficial for global roaming.
Android of course supports these public warning systems specified in ETSI TS 123 041 [4] since at least Android 4.2.2 [5]. And nations that use these systems already, like CMAS in the US, report very high and reliable coverage.
However, referring to German news [2] and government, not many phones that are currently on the market will actually support EU-Alert in Germany, despite already supporting EU-Alert in Netherlands or CMAS in the US.
How is this possible when exactly the same SMS-CB is broadcasted, just in a different country?
Golem [2] says that Samsung and Google already confirmed that EU-Alert is currently not supported in Germany, but updates will be rolled out to recent devices.
This strongly suggests to me that OEMs like Samsung and Google actually added country specific filters/configurations for these public warning systems to their phones without deploying a reasonable fallback. Public warning systems based on ETSI TS 123 041 [4] thus may only work in countries that were known to use these systems when the phone was released.
Isn't this an obvious issue?
Google said, starting with Android 11+ it will be possible to update the CellBroadcastReceiver App via Google Play. So devices with Android 11+ will likely receive an update to support EU-Alert in Germany. For Android 10 and older, OEMs will have to supply updates.
What also confuses me is the fact that all Android Phones I own (Nexus 4 with Android 5, Nexus 5X with Android 8, Pixel 3a with Android 12) here in Germany do actually offer the setting for Emergency Warnings and they are already enabled by default. So I assume they would work? Did Google actually deploy a sane default configuration here already?
But if they did - why isn't it working on ALL Android 11+ Phones already? I'm pretty sure my Pixel 3a uses Googles CellBroadcastReceiver App which is provided through the Play Store. So all Android 11+ phones should already use the exact same App?! Or am I wrong here? So what is this update Google actually needs to provide?
And does this also mean that with Android 11+ OEMs are not allowed / cannot implement their own Emergency Warning CellBroadcastReceiver?
This topic is really confusing to me
Shouldn't it be really simple?
All phones, regardless of the OEM, should have a proper SMS-CB Application which allows you to subscribe to custom channels, view the index, and manage your SMS-CB Messages.
Phones should also be aware of special channels to apply special ringtones etc if needed, but they should have a sane fallbacks!
A phone that knows about NL-Alert and CMAS may call messages on Channel 4370 received in the Netherlands "NL-Alert". But when it receives the same message in Germany, it shouldn't just drop it! It should display it as warning and call it whatever it wants. And if it doesn't know about CMAS / EU-Alert, it should just receive it as regular SMS-CB.
Can't be that hard?
Interestingly enough, Samsung phones allow you to subscribe to custom channels. Google phones do not :/
Should there be a better / more enforced standard, so that a country that wants to implement CMAS/EU-Alert in the future doesn't have to rely on OEMs help?
And finally some technical Questions:
I found zero Apps for Android that would allow me to subscribe to custom CellBroadcast Channels on my Google Android phones. Is this even possible?
Also, is it possible to test these CellBroadcasts somehow? Is it possible to write an App that can inject SMS-CB into the system?
Sorry for the long post, but I think this an important Topic.
Let me know what you think
Do you have experience with these Emergency Warnings already?
[1] https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/102900_102999/102900/
[2] https://www.golem.de/news/cell-broadcast-warum-es-am-warntag-ruhig-bleiben-koennte-2206-165822.html
[3] https://source.android.com/devices/architecture/modular-system/cellbroadcast#channel-50
[4] https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/123000_123099/123041/11.04.00_60/ts_123041v110400p.pdf
[5] https://cs.android.com/android/plat...ternal/telephony/gsm/SmsCbConstants.java;l=58
Hey! I was just researching something about this. Thanks for your detailed post.
I am from Chile and, in my case, my operator had subscriptions to two channels: 919 and 920.
In order to see the Cell Broadcast menu in the Messages app, I had to override a CSC setting (I use a Samsung device), particularly "CarrierFeature_Message_DisableMenuCBMessage") because it seems some Chilean operators ordered Samsung to hide it.
Even then, the Google Cell Broadcast app would not let me modify settings other than test alerts.
In my country these emergency alerts are quite unreliable and are often sent by mistake or to the wrong place (i.e. sending a tsunami alert to an area more than 100 km away from the coast).
Shooting Star Max said:
Hey! I was just researching something about this. Thanks for your detailed post.
I am from Chile and, in my case, my operator had subscriptions to two channels: 919 and 920.
In order to see the Cell Broadcast menu in the Messages app, I had to override a CSC setting (I use a Samsung device), particularly "CarrierFeature_Message_DisableMenuCBMessage") because it seems some Chilean operators ordered Samsung to hide it.
Even then, the Google Cell Broadcast app would not let me modify settings other than test alerts.
In my country these emergency alerts are quite unreliable and are often sent by mistake or to the wrong place (i.e. sending a tsunami alert to an area more than 100 km away from the coast).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you explain how you disabled this CSC setting and on what samsung phone/os?
You can see Googles/Androids latest default configuration for Chile (MCC 730) here:
https://cs.android.com/android/plat...apps/CellBroadcastReceiver/res/values-mcc730/
The config.xml really has some restrictive features enabled :/
Thanks for your reply!
Please note that all the following information assumes you have rooted your device. It's impossible to override this configuration otherwise.
My device is a Galaxy Note20 Ultra (Exynos version, SM‑N985F) running Android 12, One UI 4.1.
As you might know, Samsung devices include several packages named “CSC”, which define settings according to a sales code matching with a region. For example, a device sold in Chile without a carrier uses the sales code CHO, while one sold by operator Movistar uses the sales code CHT.
In the Galaxy Note20 Ultra, the CSC packages are stored in /optics/config/carriers/single (older Samsung devices might use /omc/).
Once you find the sales code matching with your current configuration, you can grab two files: cscfeature.xml and customer_carrier_feature.json. Taking CHO again as an example, the files would be /optics/config/carriers/single/CHO/conf/system/cscfeature.xml and/optics/config/carriers/single/CHO/conf/system/customer_carrier_feature.json.
These files are encoded, but OmcTextDecoder can take care of that.
In the case of CHO, customer_carrier_feature.json has the value "CarrierFeature_Message_DisableMenuCBMessage":"TRUE", which hides the cell broadcast menu in the stock Messages application. Just replace “TRUE” with “FALSE”, save the file and push it to its location. The next time you reboot your system, it will be applied.
Regarding the link you sent, I think we could get around that configuration by decompiling the GoogleCellBroadcastApp.apk through Apktool, modifying the restrictive values, and then pushing the APK to the device, replacing the original version.
Thank you!
Let me know if you managed to patch your original CellBroadcastReceiver.apk!
I actually tried using Runtime Resource Overlays (RROs) which is described on the official docu about CellBroadcast in Android.
You can find the result here: https://github.com/xsrf/android-de-alert
However, I didn't quite get these RROs. It looked like in Oreo you can use RROs to overlay any resource of any app without any permissions or matching signatures, which is quite a surprise to me?!
On my phones with more recent OS, I get signature mismatch errors and also it looks like apps now have to define what resources can be overlayed ...

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